Circle of Blood by Debbie Viguié

opposite of what they should.
    So maybe she needed to do the opposite to quench them. She summoned her energy and tried to fan the flames. They lessened, not by much, but they did lessen. She could hear the screams from Freaky and the hounds. She knew that the witch was out there and she wished she could tell Freaky to attack her instead.
    She tried again to fan the flames and they dropped down to their original size just in time for her to see Freaky being pinned by one hound. She tried to scream, but the oxygen was gone. Her eyes were burning and her skin was turning black. She was dying.
    Suddenly the flames were extinguished as if blown out by a giant. She fell to her knees, choking. She grabbed hold of the earth, but it was scorched and charred and nothing living was growing in it.
    Something the size of a bull leaped over her, scattering everything before it. Two hands reached down and grabbed her. She glanced up and saw the face of the Druid.
    “I’m here to help,” he said, hefting her into his arms. He began to run and she felt as if her body was breaking apart.
    Moments later she was being laid down in the back of a car. She heard doors slam, followed by the squeal of tires.
    “My name is Thomas. I won’t hurt you.”
    She couldn’t answer.
    “It was foolish to take her on in the state that you’re in. If she’d wanted to she could have killed you.”
    Desdemona didn’t have time to ponder his words. She was busy pulling energy from everything she could. A moment later the car sputtered to a halt and died.
    Thomas swore and slammed his hand down on the dashboard. “You drained the battery. Don’t do that. I need to get you to a place where you can get some real energy, enough to actually heal.”
    She could feel him push energy back into the car battery, and it took all her will not to drain it. The car came back to life and moments later jounced along, every bump sending an agony of fire through her body. She didn’t know how long they traveled, but she was pretty sure she blacked out at least once.
    She woke up as someone was lifting her out of the backseat. “You’re only half the witch you could be,” he said, his voice deeply disapproving.
    He lowered her onto something that was soft and wet and smelled like grass. Her fingers reached out. It was grass. She pushed her hands down into the earth and pulled with everything she had. Energy came flooding over her. A moment later, her body began to heal and the pain of that caused everything to go black.
    •   •   •
    She felt something wet on her cheek and chin. She felt stiff all over and unbelievably sore. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Freaky, poised about to lick her again.
    “I’m okay,” she muttered, incredibly relieved that he was there. He seemed okay. He was an energy creature, so she shouldn’t have worried, but she wasn’t sure if the hellhounds would have been capable of destroying him.
    She looked around slowly. Somehow she was back in her own car and Freaky was in the passenger seat staring at her with concerned eyes.
    “What happened?” she asked the panther.
    He jumped through into the backseat and she slowly straightened. She was damp and smelled like smoke and wet earth. There were bits of dead grass on her clothes, and her head was throbbing.
    She glanced around, wondering what had happened to Thomas. He must have been the one to leave her here. Why bother?
    She turned and saw a couple of police cars up the street. Apparently the events in the cemetery had not gone unnoticed. She should get out of there. She started the car and drove off.
    The last thing she remembered was lying on the grass, trying to pull energy from the earth. Obviously it had worked. She didn’t know where Freaky had been or how he’d made it back to the car; she was just grateful he was there.
    She drove until she reached the house. She hesitated before going in. Too many people knew where she was staying for it to be truly safe. On the